Determination of dietary and physical activity habits in Izmir (Buca) closed/open penal institution and provide training for hygiene/sanitation

Nutritional services and physical activity facilities differ among the penal institutions. The sensitivity and care of these services given by the penal institutions have great importance for the purposes of both providing inner peace of convicts and prisoners and improving the duty efficiency of working staff and also preventing some judicial and administrative problems before they happen. This study was carried out using the survey method with 486 participants with different demographic characteristics in Izmir Closed/Open Penal Institution. The factors affecting the demographic characteristics, health status, dietary habits, physical activities and diet practices of the participants were analyzed within this study. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The most important factor that influences the health of the participants was "nutrition type" with a ratio of 56.4%. On the other hand, participants think that "sports" factor affects their health with a very low rate of 11.9%. 31.5% of the participants stated that they do not eat an adequate and a balanced diet, 63.2% of them stated that they skip the main meals and the breakfast has been determined as the most frequently missed main meal. 42.6% of all participants skipped the snack meals and the most common skipped snack was detected as mid-morning meal. The 68.7% of the participants reported that they have their breakfast, 69.1% of them have their lunch and 87.0% of them have their dinner regularly. 37.2% of the participants stated that they regularly do physical activity. The most effective factor for the regular physical activity was "being healthy" whereas the most important reason for not doing any physical activity was reported as "no time". Keywords: Nutrition, Physical activity, Health, Penal Institution.